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"MARY'S
VERSION OF 'AMAZING GRACE'
" December 16, 2001 Text: Luke 1:46-55 Today I want us to examine the passage we read, which is a song Mary sang. To do this, we need to remember who Mary was, when she lived, and where she lived. She was a young teenager, who was engaged to be married and she was pregnant. She was a first century teenager, living in a male dominated culture that has more in common with the conservative, male dominated cultures in the Middle East today than with society as we know in it in the United States. She was pregnant, and the father was not the man to whom she was engaged. Not only was that grounds for breaking the engagement; in that culture, her pregnancy out of wedlock was even grounds for Mary being stoned to death. It is when we keep her situation clearly in mind that we are able to appreciate Mary's profound faith -- a faith every bit as profound as Abraham's. Because of her faith, her confidence, her trust in God and the message from God, Mary did not deal with her pregnancy as an embarrassment, much less a disgrace. Quite the opposite. By faith, through faith, she understood her pregnancy as a very special gift from God. Rather than viewing her pregnancy as something of which to be ashamed, she saw it as a cause for profound gratitude. Because of her faith, Mary was able to see her pregnancy not as a problem but as a privilege. By faith, she knew she was going to give birth to the Messiah. In our country, "Amazing Grace" is probably the best known and most popular Christian hymn. The lyrics of that hymn express the faith journey of many of us. The song Mary sang at Elizabeth's house (the passage we read today) can be understood as Mary's version of "Amazing Grace." It is a celebration of God's wonderous love. Whereas the "Amazing Grace" we sing celebrates the activity of God's love at work in our individual lives, the hymn of gratitude Mary sang, celebrates the activity of God's love not only at work in her life but most especially God's work in history, in all of life. Let's look at what she sang. She began singing praises to God and about God. She began by expressing awe and joy because God had reached out to her, saved her and in God's unexplainable mercy and generosity had chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah. She was well aware of some of the implications of being the mother of the Messiah. One was that her life would definitely matter. People yet unborn would be blessed by this child she was to mother and as a result, generations yet to come would be aware of how blessed she had been. She was blessed to be given this very special gift and this very special responsibility. And so, Mary sang about the holiness of God, the unexplainable, eternal mystery of the divine. Or, as we might say: she sang about the awesome love, the amazing grace of God. Then, her song shifted its focus. In fact most of the song does not have to do with how grateful she was for what God had done in her life. Most of her song has to do with her gratitude for what God had done is doing and will continue to do in all of life, in history. She sang in celebration of God's mercy that reaches out to any and all who respond to him in awe, in faith, in obedience. This is what the Bible is talking about when it says that we should fear God. It is telling us to respond to God in awe, in faith, in obedience. Mary sang about this: "God's mercy extends to everyone who fears him, and this is true generation after generation." "This is not just the way it is now," Mary was singing. "This is the way it is and always will be. God's mercy extends to any and all who respond to God in awe, in faith, in obedience." Mary continued to sing about God's amazing grace, but now her song not only celebrated God's grace that comes in the form of mercy but also as it comes in judgment. Her song not only embraces and celebrates the reality of God's forgiveness, it also embraces and celebrates God holding us accountable. And as the focus of her singing shifts to the celebration of God's judgment as well as God's mercy, it becomes more difficult for some of us to sing Mary's song with the same kind of joyful gratitude one can sense in Mary's singing. She celebrated what the mighty arm of God can and does accomplish. I like the way the Jerusalem Bible translates the next line. "(God) has routed the proud of heart." Mary was not singing about the appropriate pride, such as Paul's pride in the Gospel or his pride in faithfulness of others. The pride Mary sang about is the pride that pushes God and God's will aside. It is the kind of self-centered pride that leads us to be so confident we know what is best for ourselves and others, we do not even bother to seek God's guidance. It is the kind of arrogant pride that is so focused on what we have done we are insensitive to what God has done, and therefore, we are incapable of genuine gratitude to God. This way of living is so self-centered it eventually leads to destructive behavior. But Mary's song celebrates that this destructive way of living will be held accountable, and it will come to an end. Joyfully Mary sang: "The proud of heart are routed by God," Next she joyfully sang that it is not those who live by and for the use of power who please God and whom God praises. "God exalts the lowly," Mary sang. It is not the ones with greatest human clout that God exalts; it is those who recognize their need for God. As Mary's son, Jesus, was to say, in a variety of ways, a few years later: "Those who try to make their lives worth living by obtaining power over others and exercising power over others will have their own kind of reward, but it will not be the blessing only God can give." To be sure, power is a reality in life, and some people have more power than others; this is the way life is. Parents have more power than their children; the boss has more power than the employee. But this power and the exercise of this power are to serve God by reflecting God's love -- especially in trying to make life better for those in need. Contrary to what some people think, it is not power and the exercise of power that makes us matter. What makes our lives matter in the sight of God is living in such a way that whatever power we may have is used so that it serves God by reflecting God's grace. All too often we seek power not for the sake of being faithful but for the sake of needing no one -- neither God nor anyone else. All too often we seek power not for the sake of serving others but for the sake of being in a position so others must serve us. All too often we seek power not for the sake of doing God's will but for doing our own. Mary's song celebrates that ultimately all such efforts finally end in futility -- if not actual failure. And so, Mary sang that the people who live for power are brought low, and the lowly, the people who are not self-centered, are lifted up. Next, Mary's song celebrates that those who have more than they need are the ones who will be sent away, and those who are hungry will be filled with good things. It is another version of the Bible's attempt to tell us that if are not aware of our need, we are unable to receive what God is offering. It is very easy for us humans to be so caught up in our desire for things, our pursuit of things, and our concern to protect our things that we miss what life is all about. Our lives can be full of good food and wonderful things, yet in the sight of God, our living can be a huge disappointment. On the other hand, it is possible for us to be among the needy and our living give God great pleasure -- not because God takes pleasure in our need but because in our need, we have not closed our hearts and minds to God. As the Bible says, and as Luke often reminds us, it is the poor rather than the affluent who are more likely to be aware of their need of God and therefore, most likely to be able to receive what God is offering. Luke is also very intent on proclaiming -- both explicitly and implicitly -- that those of us who have more than enough, are to share what we have with those in need so that all of God's children will have what is needed. When we have more than we need and do not share with those who are in need, we violate the will of God. But it is often difficult for us to share what we have because we are so in bondage to our things that we do not have the freedom to give any of them away. This is one the ways we live in bondage to sin. We are so addicted to our things, we are unable to share what we have as we should. Mary's song celebrates that in God's own time not only will God provide what is needed to those in need but that there will be consequences for those who have had more than they need and yet have failed to share as God intended. And so she sang: "God will fill the hungry with good things and the rich will be sent empty away." Mary concludes her singing, reminding herself and anyone who will listen, that all this is not new. What she has been singing about is what God promised Abraham and all who have followed him. As we approach Christmas, it is well for us to remember Mary, to remember her faith, and to remember the joyful song her faith enabled her to sing. Pastoral Prayer: Let us thank God for the gifts and blessings we have received. We have come here with a variety of concerns and problems. Let us ask God for guidance and help. God, your Son, the Prince of Peace, taught us to pray for our enemies, and so we do, especially for those who see us and our nation as a great evil they are willing to die trying to destroy. Give them a more accurate vision of who we are. Invade their hearts with a compassion that leaves no room for hate. Help them discover information that will allay their fears and give them courage to change their opinions. And God, help us make the changes in ourselves and in our nation you see we need to make. Help us do more than pursue justice that merely seeks to punish those guilty of terrorism; motivate and guide us to become involved in those activities of education and economic justice so that persons will not be tempted to become terrorists. We also pray for those families in which persons are pulled in many directions this time of year. We especially pray for the children caught in the crossfire between multiple parents and grandparents. We pray for those children and adults who struggle to smile during the holiday season while they secretly long to cry. God, Advent proclaims a promise of faith, hope, love and light. Show us how to proclaim this promise so that those who most need to hear this Good News will be able to receive it and take heart as they deal with whatever they must face. Teach us to live the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "Our Father. ..."
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